Mount Desert Island Ice Cream Co.: Cruise ship day-trippers line up at Ben & Bill's in the center of town, but savvy ice-cream lovers head down the street to this hip newcomer. In addition to standard flavors, there are fun concoctions like zabaglione raisin, cinnamon cardamom, and cranberry bliss bar. Neato Doritos was a little too offbeat for me, but I loved the spicy hot chili chocolate.

Cleonice: A 30-minute drive from Bar Harbor, in the town of Ellsworth, Cleonice is a big-city restaurant with a small-town feel. The warm space has the original 1930s-era wooden booths and hand-carved wall details and, to Papa Chen's delight, very agreeable noise levels. The massive Mediterranean-leaning menu trots from tapas and mezes to small plates and entrées with more hits than misses; we especially loved the spinach salad with hazelnuts, warm local goat cheese, hazelnuts, and bacon; the perfectly crisp soft-shell crab with fresh pea shoots; and the insanely good brown bread ice cream. Last year the restaurant started its own farm, Artisana, where it grows its own produce and also raises chickens and pigs, the latter of which turns into homemade salumi and other dishes. And there's more to come--Cleonice is opening a new restaurant later this month, in the nearby town of Blue Hill.

A & B Naturals: Papa Chen generally leaves the healthy food to me, but even he was won over by the impressive selection raw honey and bulk quinoa at this tidy market. There's a juice bar, prepared salads (I loved the kale with tofu and nutty peanut dressing), and every kind of trail mix, dried fruit bar, or hiking snack you could possibly want (101 Cottage St.; 207-288-8480).